Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy has offered the intransigent Senate leadership an Obamacare replacement bill being sold to the public as a repeal of Obamacare when it actually merely replaces the Obamacare Medicaid portion with state block grants, all while miscalculating that the TEA Party conservative base doesn’t really believe repeal means repeal.

We all remember how Congress, controlled by a Democrat leadership in both houses intent on ramming through as much of the radical regressive agenda as possible in their window of opportunity, passed the Affordable Care Act, which has been nothing but unaffordable, with nary a single GOP vote in the dead of night with Nancy Pelosi famously declaring that “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what’s in it.” Several thousand blank pages were then sent to President Obama with the details to be filled in later, and America was saddled with the monstrosity of Obamacare in a nationalization of the American healthcare market like some two-bit socialist banana republic.

The establishment GOP leadership wasted no time declaring their intention to repeal Obamacare at the first opportunity they were returned to power in Congress, and subsequent congressional campaigns hammered this theme home to cheers from the conservative base of the party. Republicans regained control of the House with a tearful John Boehner elevated to House Speaker, and several show votes were held repealing Obamacare which the establishment GOP leadership knew would be dead on arrival in the Senate controlled by Harry Reid. Meanwhile, the overly complex machinery of Obamacare was being installed even as conservatives breathlessly pinned their hopes on it being found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. John Roberts shocked conservatives by finding Obamacare’s original fees to be taxes while ruling that this made no difference and Obamacare could remain in effect. Conservatives doubled down to ensure the Senate returned to Republican control only to see Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell begin waffling that it was useless to spend energy on a doomed effort to repeal Obamacare while Obama was president. Meanwhile, the dreaded Obamacare tax kicked in to punish already struggling Americans, and the overly complex machinery of Obamacare continued to be installed.

Sick to death of radical regressive Democrats driving America over the cliff while whiny establishment Republicans aided and abetted their efforts, Americans turned to Donald Trump to drain the swamp of these reprehensible creatures and restore sanity in his efforts to Make America Great Again. A flustered establishment GOP leadership watched in horror as conservatives rejected their handpicked candidates and turned in droves to Candidate Trump who easily tied the corrupt media in knots while turning Americans against their fake news smear attempts. Finally, after eight years of suffering under the socialist agenda of the Obama administration, both the Legislative and Executive branches of government were under Republican control, and the hard work of rolling back the regressive agenda of the Obama administration could get underway.

As he promised, President Trump teed up repeal of Obamacare as his first legislative priority only to watch bickering House Republicans water down the effort before the House Freedom Caucus insisted on strengthening it back to something approaching actual repeal. The Senate halfheartedly took the House bill and proceeded to water it back down, but could not even agree on that. Then, when it finally appeared that the Senate was about to pass something vaguely resembling repeal of Obamacare despite the misgivings of conservatives who still demanded outright repeal, RINO Senator John McCain stepped in to cast the deciding vote that doomed it to failure. After eight years and countless promises, the establishment GOP could not bring itself to kill the socialist monstrosity of Obamacare beholden as they are to the big government expansion favored by regressive Democrats. There was never any plan developed because the establishment GOP never intended to repeal Obamacare. They lied, and McCain’s vote proved as much to Americans.

Americans have turned against Congress with their polling dropping into the single digits. Used car salesmen are more trusted by Americans than Congress, and who can blame us since we’ve been lied to for eight years? The House passed over fifty Obamacare repeal bills when the establishment GOP leadership knew they would go nowhere. These were all just show votes as we now know. Both House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have drawn primary challengers for their sellout of the American people, and polling indicates that Americans want new congressional leadership. Those establishment Republicans continuing to obstruct the Trump agenda do so at the peril of their congressional careers, but seemingly do not care. Much as congressional Democrats were content to sacrifice their careers to pass Obamacare in the first place, it appears congressional Republicans are willing to sacrifice their careers to keep it in place.

In a desperate attempt to regain support, establishment Republicans are lining up behind Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy’s faux Obamacare repeal utilizing the favored congressional tactic of establishing state block grants when it timidly fears actually killing a federal program. Conservatives aren’t fooled by this latest lame attempt by establishment Republicans to save face. We conservatives demanded repeal, we were promised repeal, and by golly, we want repeal! As in actual repeal and not some watered down ploy to retain the complex machinery of this onerous socialist burden poised to drag down our economy for decades while enslaving Americans even further to an increasingly totalitarian federal government.

Sure, Cassidy is sweetening the deal by promising removal of the dreaded Obamacare tax and some of the other more onerous Obamacare regulations, but we in Louisiana are quite familiar with a little tax promise known as the Stelly Plan which promised to eliminate state sales taxes in exchange for an increase in the state income tax. What it actually did was to increase the state income tax while still leaving us with a state sales tax, so we got higher taxes all around. We in Louisiana have learned through painful experience to beware of politicians bearing lower tax promises. We’ve been burned too many times to take politicians at their word. What Senator Cassidy is proposing is NOT repeal and will leave Obamacare embedded in the federal system to be resurrected at some future date by another crop of politicians.

What part of repeal does Congress not understand? To us conservatives, repeal means repeal and not some modification designed to fool us into thinking Obamacare has been repealed. Oh, the establishment Republican leadership in Congress knows full well that this is not repeal, and they know we conservatives aren’t going to be satisfied with the Cassidy plan, but they just don’t give a damn and are willing to sacrifice their seats to ensure Obamacare continues being embedded into the federal system so that future congresses can’t undo it. They are complicit with the regressive Democrats wanting bigger government, increased globalism, and eventual communism in America.

Establishment Republicans are content to play the percentages instead of reaching for bold conservative approaches that would shrink government and return power to the American people. They know Americans will defeat some Republicans in the next election, but they are figuring that many conservatives will still vote Republican instead of Democrat. Where they worry is the primaries where conservative challengers are increasingly defeating the spineless establishment moderates unwilling to defend conservatism and kowtowing to the corrupt media.

It was never going to be enough to elect Donald Trump as president and count on his brash bravado to drain the swamp all by himself. President Trump has been surrounded by establishment hacks all whispering the corruption of moderation in his ear while the Deep State Obama administration holdovers quietly go about their business of obstruction leaking classified information and the establishment GOP congressional leadership continues their obstruction in the legislative arena. To us conservatives, repeal means repeal and we will settle for nothing less. Draining the swamp and making America great again are going to require more manpower assisting President Trump if there’s ever going to be a chance of getting it done.